1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to enhanced telephone call processing services and features such as call forwarding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern call processing and switching systems have given rise to many enhanced call processing services and features such as call forwarding, call waiting, caller identification, and a host of others. These enhanced call processing services and features are made possible through use of intelligent, programmable call routing and switching systems, such as CENTREX type switches which support activation of existing telephone switch feature group functions.
Call forwarding is a commonly used and implemented enhanced call processing feature. Call forwarding was invented to provide seamless communications by allowing a person to receive calls at more than one call termination location by causing a switching system to route calls to alternate telephone stations. It is quite common, for example, for a person to forward his calls to an alternate call termination location when he knows that he will be away from his home or office for an extended period of time. Typically, the person will call a service access number or dial a special access number (e.g., "*72") from a telephone station to access an enhanced feature menu of an appropriate system. At such a menu, the person can cause his calls to be routed to alternate call termination locations by specifying telephone numbers or network addresses where he intends to receive his calls.
Despite the many benefits afforded by call forwarding, current implementations have certain drawbacks that continue to frustrate the problem that call forwarding systems attempt to address--seamless communications. For example, many call forwarding systems are configured such that after a person forwards his calls to an alternate call termination location, he must specifically remember to later reset or terminate call forwarding so that he can again receive calls at his normal call termination location. In other words, typical call forwarding systems are configured to forward calls to a person's specified alternate call termination location indefinitely and until otherwise re-programmed, reset, or cancelled. As such, if a person forgets to reset his call forwarding parameters (e.g., his "forward-to" number), calls will continue to be routed to his alternate call termination location regardless of his present location.
Numerous attempts to improve call forwarding systems and features like those mentioned above have been made. No such attempt, however, truly achieves seamless communications. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,970 to Fuller, et al. a system is provided wherein subscribers of enhanced call processing features such as call forwarding can establish schedules whereby certain enhanced features are turned on and off based on subscriber-specified times. For example, a subscriber may pre-establish a daily schedule such that call forwarding will remain in effect from 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday of every week to forward calls from the subscriber's home to his cellular telephone during the time when he picks his kids up from school and is away from his home or office. Additionally, a feature timer may be set to initiate a feature such as call forwarding when a subscriber has to unexpectedly leave his office and run and errand. After termination of the time period specified by the feature timer, the system of the '970 either will resort to normal, scheduled enhanced feature invocation or to a specified mode of call processing (e.g., call waiting, regular non-feature based call routing, etc.).
Although there are certain benefits provided by a system such as the one disclosed in the '970 patent, setting time periods during which certain enhanced call processing features will remain in effect and the use of special feature-timers do little to provide seamless communications. In essence, such systems attempt to make a subscriber run his life according to a pre-arranged schedule in the hope that if he adheres to such a schedule, he will receive his calls. Unfortunately, however, if a subscriber varies in any way from his pre-arranged schedule, he may miss his calls.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an improved enhanced call processing system wherein an enhanced call processing feature such as call forwarding may remain in effect for a subscriber-specified period of time and wherein the subscriber can be notified that the period of time has or is about to expire and then be given the opportunity to re-establish his call forwarding parameters.